Votes, money point to an uneven contest

SAN ANGELO, Texas - In terms of both money and votes, the contest between David Jones and Steve Mild is a lopsided race.

Jones, tapping a vein of support from some of San Angelo's most influential people, raised more than $40,000 to run his campaign for the Republican nomination for Tom Green County sheriff. Mild raised barely half that.

The two wound up in an extended campaign for the nomination after a four-way primary at the end of May failed to give anyone a majority, although Jones came very close. The runoff election will be held Tuesday, following a week of early voting.

In the May 29 primary, Jones polled more than half the vote in 16 of 34 consolidated precincts. Overall, he received 49.29 percent of the vote, 62 votes short of getting the nomination without a runoff. Mild topped the remaining vote with 2,558, eliminating Keith Muncey and David Faison, and garnering 24.85 percent.

Mild topped Jones in only two relatively small consolidated precincts, 112 — the eastern county area along Paint Rock Road — and 305, the area within the city between Sherwood Way and Loop 306 along Glenna Drive and Arden Road. His greatest support appeared to be in the county outside San Angelo city limits and in the northern part of the city.

Jones made his strongest showing in the Sherwood Way-Knickerbocker Road corridor and in the moneyed Country Club, Bentwood, Bluffs and Lake Nasworthy areas. The key to victory for both candidates will be to get their supporters to the polls. Tom Green County Elections Administrator Vona McKerley said the turnout for early voting was a pleasant surprise.

"It was better than I dreamed of, higher than I thought it would be," she said late Friday afternoon, when the total turnout stood at 2,895, with the potential to reach 3,000. Although it was higher than expected, it is low in proportion to the number of registered voters in the county.

Tom Green County had 59,573 registered voters as of May, according to the Texas Secretary of State website, putting the turnout as of late Friday afternoon at 4.86 percent. Early and absentee votes accounted for just more than

40 percent of the May 29 primary vote.

If Tuesday's vote totals follow the same pattern, the total turnout in the runoff will be about 7,200.

Campaign fundraising and expenditures

David Jones

Amount raised: $41,669.61

Amount spent: $43,781.39

Top contributors ($500 and more — multiple entries indicate separate contributions on different dates), earliest to latest dates:

Robert Housley: $500

J. Stanley and Deanna Mayfield: $500

Joe Lee and Inger McManus: $500

(Self): $500

James and Janet Cummings: $500

Steve Stephens: $500

(Self): $500

(Self): $500

(Self): $500

(Self): $500

(Self): $500

Robert and Mona Housley: $500

Kenneth and Brenda Gunter: $1,000

Jim and Mary Chionsini: $500

John David Fields: $500

(in kind)

Dave and Lori Lyn Winston: $2,500

Steve and Pollyanna Stephens: $500

Milton and Sharalee Pierce: $2,000

Ace and Billy Phinney: $500

Ace and Billy Phinney: $500

James and Janet Cummings: $500

Steve Salmon: $500

Steve and Pollyanna Stephens: $500

Steve Mild

Amount raised: $19,590.99

Amount spent: $20,915.17

Top contributors ($500 and more — multiple entries indicate separate contributions on different dates), earliest to latest dates: